Hampshire's relegation from the first division of the PPP Healthcare county championship moved a step nearer reality with another abject batting performance at the County Ground.

Leicestershire managed to bowl out Hampshire twice without four key frontline bowlers.

Chris Lewis, Anil Kumble and Philip DeFreitas - all of them internationals - and highly-rated James Ormond were all ruled out by injury.

Leicestershire's cause was further hampered at the start of the last day when medium-pacer Jon Dakin limped off with an injury and he never returned.

But Leicestershire captain Vince Wells marshalled superbly what was left of his attack to inflict on Hampshire a 61-run defeat by mid-afternoon as they threw away a golden opportunity for only their second win of the season.

Chasing 279 for victory, Hampshire were 54-2 overnight and 144-2 not long before lunch.

Giles White and Alex Morris put on 99 for the third wicket without ever looking in any trouble as the Leicestershire bowlers began to look what they were, mostly untried reserves, on a County Ground wicket which still behaved impeccably.

White and Morris each reached half-centuries before they were both out at the same score, 144, and Hampshire never recovered.

Night-watchman Morris was top-scorer with 60 which included 11 flourishing boundaries, but, from the moment he became Carl Crowe's first victim of the day, Hampshire fell away in sadly familiar fashion.

Even at 179-5 and with Robin Smith at the crease, there was still a chance for Hampshire with only 100 needed and plenty of time in which to get the runs.

But Wells and Crowe, who had taken only five wickets all season and was only playing because of Kumble's absence, ran through the lower order.

Wells took the last three wickets in four overs, leaving Dimitri Mascarenhas as the only batsman to show any resistance in a defiant innings of 27 not out.

Wells finished with 4-54 with his gentle medium pace and the untried Crowe took 4-55, comfortably his beat career performance as Hampshire were all out in the 80th over for 217.

Overnight: Leicestershire 266 & 240, Hampshire 228 & 54-2

HAMPSHIRE

Second innings

White b Williamson 50

Morris c Smith b Crowe 60

Smith c Burns b Crowe 20

Laney c & b Crowe 6

Aymes c Maddy b Crowe 6

Mascarenhas not out 27

Stephenson c Burns b Wells 5

Udal lbw b Wells 1

Mullally c Sutcliffe b Wells 0

Extras (lb 7, nb 12) 19

Total (all out, 79.4ov) 214

FoW: 1-13 2-45 3-144 4-144 5-166 6-179 7-190 8-211 9-217

Bowling: Dakin 7-1-29-1, Boswell 12-3-30-0, Wells 20.4-4-54-4, Crowe 27-7-55-4, Williamson 13-2-42-1.

Points: Leicestershire 17 Hampshire 4

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.